They also established the line of succession which would pass the crown to Otto's descendants, or his younger brothers should he have no issue.
Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, Great Britain, rallied around the idea that Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, could become the next King.
British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were "panting for increase in territory", hoping that the election of Alfred as King would also result in the incorporation of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate, into an enlarged Greek state.
The London Conference of 1832, however, had prohibited any of the Great powers' ruling families from accepting the crown of Greece, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea.
Nevertheless, the Greeks insisted on holding a referendum on the issue of the head of state in November 1862.